Ornamental adjustable slide fastener



Aug. 17, 1937. E. D. JANES 7 2,090,367

ORNAMENTAL ADJUSTABLE SLIDEFASTENER Filed Oct. 24, 1955 INVENTOR ATTORNEYS Patented Aug. 17, 1937 UNITED STAES ORNAMENTAL ADJUSTABLE SLIDE' I FASTENER Edmund D. Janes, Middlebury, Conn., assignor to Scovill Manufacturing Company, Water-. bury, Conn., a corporation of Connecticut Application October 24, 1935, Serial No. 46,504

4 Claims.

This invention relates to slide fasteners, buckles, or the like, which are adapted to friotionally engage a strap whereby the length of the latter maybe adjusted, and which carry a fastening means whereby the strap may be removably attached to another article.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide such a slide member with a shell which not only enhances its appearance by covering the unsightly portions thereof, but which also imparts some degree of protection to the fastening means carried thereby.

It is another object of the invention to provide a slide member of this character which may easily and speedily be applied to the strap member of an article with which it is to be used.

Other objects and various features of the invention making for efiiciency in operation and economy in manufacture will be more apparent from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawing in which Figure 1 is a plan view of the slide fastener element of this invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view taken on the line 22 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view of an ornamental cap which may be applied to the slide fastener of Figs. 1 and 2;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the assembled fastener showing the method of introducing the strap therein;

Fig. 5 is a similar view showing the completed fastener with the strap element included therein;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the completed fastener looking upward from the bottom thereof; and

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of the completed fastener as applied to a strap with which it is to be used.

Considering the drawing, Figure 1 shows a slide member Ill which preferably is stamped from a piece of sheet metal in such fashion that the inner edges of the margins, or frame H and the side edges of the cross bar I2 define a pair 45 of openings I3 through which a strap it may be threaded, as is shown in Fig. 7, that is, the strap passes in through one opening, over the cross bar, and then out through the other opening. Thus, the slide member and the strap are engaged only 50 by friction, and consequently, the member may be moved along the strap to any desired position.

Further, the member usually carries some form of attaching means, whereby it and the strap with which it is engaged, may be attached to another 55 article. As illustrated here, such means comprises a socket member l5 of a conventional snap fastener, which is disposed within a hole I6 in the cross bar and is affixed thereto in any desired fashion. I

Insofar as the actual functioning of such a fastener is concerned-the slide member Ill above described includes all of the truly essential parts. However, it is, to say the least, not a thing of beauty, and where it is to be used with an article of wearing apparel, such as a bathing cap, its lack of style and attractiveness become important factors. Hence, it is highly desirable to cover=the unsightly portions of the member ID, and to impart some ornamental characteristics thereto. For this purpose, then, as is shown in Figs. 4-7, the member is disposed within a shell I1, and the rim of the latter is turned inwardly, as at 18, to engage the frame portions l I. thereof. The shell here shown is of the high domed, or hemispherical type. may be used; and various designs may be embossed or otherwise incorporated therein, to increase its attractiveness. Now, While this shell, or cover, is primarily intended to enhance the beauty of the fastener, it also serves a distinctly utilitarian function in protecting the somewhat delicate socket member l5. Thus, if the fastener is dropped upon the floor, and stepped upon, as not infrequently occurs, the shell will absorb the shock and leave the socket member substantially unharmed. The shell, while it improves the looks, and serves as a protective means, does to some extent interfere with the threading of the strap I4 through the openings I 3 in the slide member III. In other words, when one end of the strap is passed in through one of the openings it will be found to be substantially impossible to get hold of the end and pull it through the other opening; and this is particularly true when the strap is made of rubber. In order toovercome this difficulty the present invention proposes to introduce the strap edgewise over the cross bar, and thereby to avoid the necessity for threading the strap as above described. To this end then the bar is severed as at l9 whereby it may be sprung away from the adjacent edge of the frame H to provide an entranceway 20 through which the strap It may be passed as is shown in Fig. 4. The bar may then be forced back into its original position, that is, with all parts of the bar disposed between the planes defining the upper and lower faces of the slide member, and engaged with the portion from which it is severed, as shown in Fig. 5.

The severance of the bar [2 from the member However, almost any form of shell may be accomplished in any desired manner, but in the preferred embodiment, it is sheared from its adjacent marginal edge portion ll. Thus, no metal is removed, and consequently when the bar is forced back toits original position to close the opening 20, it will frictionally re-engage the portion from which it was sheared, and will not readily be dislodged from thatposition. Further, since this shearing may be done when the slide member is initially formed, it in no Way adds to the cost of manufacture. While this last feature, namely, the introduction of the strap edgewise over the cross bar as above described is almost essential in covered, or capped fasteners, it is evident that it may be used to great advantage even though the shell is omitted. In other words, this manner of engaging the strap results in a considerable saving of time, and Where thousands of such articles are being used, as in a factory production line, this time saving reduces the ultimate cost of the finished article.

It can be seen from the foregoing then that this invention provides a very attractive fastener, and that various designs may be incorporated into the shell to provide a multitude of different styles. Further, any additional cost incurred by the provision of the shell will be, to some extent, offset by the saving in the cost of applying the fastener, and by the protection which the shell affords to the socket member.

Since certain changes may be made in the embodiment of the invention without in any way departing from the true scope thereof, it is intended that the foregoing shall be construed in a descriptive rather than in a limiting sense.

What I claim is:

1. A slide buckle comprising a flat sheet metal frame all parts of which lie between a pair of spaced parallel planes defining the front and rear surfaces thereof, said frame having inner edges defining an opening therein, a flat bar extending across such opening with one of its ends integrally joining the inner edge of the frame at one point and its other end abutting against and frictionally engaging such edge at an opposite point so that all parts of the bar normally lie between the planes defining the front and rear surfaces of the frame.

2. A slide buckle according to claim 1, further characterized by the provision of a fastener element attached to and carried by said bar.

3. A slide buckle according to claim 1, further characterized by the provision ofv a dome-like shell disposed over the frame with its inner edges directed inwardly over the margins of the frame to hold it in place.

4. A slide buckle according to claim 1, further characterized by the provision of a fastener element carried by and attached to said bar and of a dome-like shell disposed over the frame with its inner edges directed inwardly over the margins of the frame to hold it in place.

EDMUND D. JANES. 

